Aishiteru
by rozukitsune
Summary: The sequel to An Alternate Ending, turns out... that when Riku died it wasn't over after all. Not by a longshot. YaoiLemon R
1. A few years later

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, if I did then life would be beautiful

Key:

- _Dream State_ - , _Flashback _, ' thoughts ', " Dialogue "

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- A change in writing style/time/place/whatever (will notate in () which one)

Author's Note: This is the sequel to An Alternate Ending

Rating: M - for language and graphic images in later chapters

Warning: This is still a Sora/Riku fic… yeah. XD. Deal with it.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Chapter 1: A few years later)

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing! SLAM!

Sora rolled back over in bed and yanked the covers over his head to block out the sunlight that was streaming into his room. "Stupid alarm clock…" He muttered sleepily, his mind too groggy to remember why he'd even bothered to set the dumb thing in the first place.

"Sora… get off." Muttered a disgruntled female voice from underneath him. Sora jumped about five feet. "Kai-kairi? What the hell!" He exclaimed in surprise as he fell off his side of the bed and hit the floor with a dull thud.

The redhead giggled and peered over the side of the bed at the mess he'd made, tangled all up in blanket and hair tousled more than usual. "Honestly Sora… you'd forget your head if it wasn't attached to your body." She muttered humouredly as she slipped out of bed and helped him untangle himself. "I mean seriously, how long exactly is it going to take you to get used to sharing your bed?" She asked in a slightly hurt tone.

They'd been staying with each other on and off their entire lives but since they'd been dating for well over five years now Kairi had thought it would be a good idea to have a trial marriage of sorts. Sora however, had heartily disagreed to her proposal… saying that he just wouldn't be able to handle it. After a bit of arguing and cajoling though, he'd finally let up a little and said that she could live with him, but insisted that was as far as it would go.

Despite his best efforts to confine her to her very own room in his house, she'd weaseled her way into his room, a fact that he disliked more and more as the days went by. At 20 years old he was probably the only one on the island who was still unmarried at his age… and frankly he never wanted that fact to change. It wouldn't be right, marriage after all was a sacred union between two people who loved one another deeply, and who, despite any obstacles would be willing to stay with each other for the rest of their lives.

Sora knew that he would never love Kairi enough to make it right in his own mind to marry her, and really only dated her for her, annoying yet necessary, company. Inwardly he'd increasingly begun to wish that she'd meet some other guy and get the hell away from him, but always countered that he would crumble to pieces without her.

He could see though, as she helped him out of the blankets, that this need to have her around was taking its toll on her. If he didn't stop being so selfish soon then she might never recover… and he wouldn't be able to forgive himself for destroying her like that after she'd practically saved his life.

Kairi beamed at him and wandered off into her closet. "C'mon silly, you'd better get into the shower soon or you'll be late for work."

Work! Right… Sora was the manager of a rather wealthy hotel on Destiny Islands. He got to meet the most interesting people from all over his little world and at the same time it paid the bills.

Sora sighed as he wandered into the bathroom and locked the door behind him for privacy. How would he break it to her without hurting her feelings? And on top of that… how would he cope alone? He undressed and turned on the shower, stepping in and closing his eyes, just enjoying the feel of the warm water running over him.

'Well… I guess I'll figure that part out when I get to it…' He thought idly as he washed up. 'After all… I used to be a fearless hero… I brought peace to so many people… it's about time I let myself enjoy the same.' He thought, a smile reminiscent of the old days crossing his features. "I deserve as much…" He muttered, finishing his shower and toweling himself off.

As he looked in the mirror he watched with less enthusiasm as his reflection flashed to a familiar silver and green. He closed his eyes immediately, cursing himself for crossing that fine line that he was forced to walk in order to keep up his appearances. 'Riku…' He collapsed on the porcelain toilet and shoved his face into the towel to keep the sound of his sorrow as quiet as possible.

"Sora? You ok in there?" Came the female voice from the other side of the door.

"Y-yeah Kairi… I'm just fine." He said in the most normal tone of voice he could muster.

"Ok… well, hurry up. I have to get ready too you know." She replied and then he heard her footsteps disappearing down the hall.

'Why'd I have to go and look in the mirror?' Sora had gotten so used to avoiding looking in mirrors after he'd realized he'd begun seeing Riku in himself. He'd let his unruly chocolate hair grow out as a testament to Riku's life. However; he hadn't known that his own reflection would soon afterwards become the source of most of his problems.

But avoiding mirrors had turned out to be quite a difficult task. Because it was not only mirror's themselves that reflected one's appearance. Car's, windows, lakes, the side of steel buildings. It seemed like everywhere Sora went; Riku was following close behind like a shadow. Sora had spent the last five years trying in vain to get someone to tell him why he saw Riku everywhere he went, but all the psychiatrists ever told him was that he was deeply hurt by the death of his friend and that it was perfectly natural for him to see Riku, in other people, and in himself.

So Sora had given up trying to get an explanation for his problem and did his best to avoid looking into things that reflected one's image. Funny thing about what those doctors had told him… he'd thus far never seen anyone else who reminded him of Riku besides himself. 'Quacks… don't know what they're talking about.' He grumbled as he finally found the strength to wrap the towel around himself and exit the bathroom.

Kairi had been helpful at that point in time, instead of looking at his own reflection he merely ran a brush through his hair then asked her to make sure he looked presentable, which she was only too happy to do, being a girl. It seemed to him that perhaps she also believed that his asking for her help was a sign of their closeness, but he paid no attention to that, knowing for himself the true reason.

He dressed himself in his usual island t-shirt and tan swimming trunks. He dressed like a tourist mainly because he enjoyed watching the surprise on people's faces when he told them that he was the hotel manager and proceeded to give them some sort of discount that they couldn't refuse. He smiled at this, he really loved people…

As he dressed his eyes wandered around the room… and alighted on his window which was open. Upon the sill was a small bottle with a slip of paper inside with a very familiar insignia. "Shit…" He muttered crossing the room and grabbing the bottle from the sill, just in time too, as Kairi walked in.

"You done in the bathroom then?" She asked with a teasing smile.

He grinned back at her and nodded. "Yup, it's all yours." He returned.

"Thanks… be out in a few." She said turning around.

"Uh, Kairi!" He called after her, causing her to turn around with curiosity.

"Yes?" She asked.

"I have to leave early today… some stupid meeting or other with my underlings. I can't wait for you." He said apologetically.

"Oh… alright then, see you later honey." She beamed and exited.

Sora froze in place with the grin plastered all over his face until she turned away then flinched and followed it with a shudder. 'I have to tell her soon… this is ridiculous.' He thought as he quickly changed out of his tourist clothes. That bottle could have meant only one thing. The King wanted to see him… and that called for another dress code entirely. He threw on a dark blue shirt and a pair of baggy black pants. He threw some yellow belts over his outfit, tied a couple of red bags around his waist for carrying items. Tossed on his best pair of overly large black and yellow shoes, a black jacket and hopped out the window, bottle in hand.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

**rozukitsune**


	2. Danger

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, if I did then life would be beautiful

Key:

- _Dream State_ - , _Flashback _, ' thoughts ', " Dialogue "

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- A change in writing style/time/place/whatever (will notate in () which one)

Author's Note: This is the sequel to An Alternate Ending

Rating: M - for language and graphic images in later chapters

Warning: This is still a Sora/Riku fic… yeah. XD. Deal with it.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Chapter 2: Danger)

The moment Sora got off the gummy ship he rushed through the gigantic double doors that lead into Disney Castle, closely followed by Donald and Goofy who'd been waiting for him inside the ship back on the Island to take him here. Although five years ago he would have refused to come to the King's aid, his pain had been too fresh back then, now he was practically jumping out of his pants at the opportunity to do go out and see other worlds once more. He imagined that it was because he was so tired of Kairi's company that he'd been so happy to receive his little… invitation.

Donald, as usual, had trouble keeping up and eventually decided to leave it to Goofy to make certain that Sora had a proper entrance before slowing down to catch his breath.

"Yer majesty! Sora's here!" Goofy called out as they entered the throne room.

Donald, who was taking his time, heard this and sweatdropped… so much for a formal entrance.

"Well hello there Sora." King Mickey waved from his throne.

"Hello your majesty." Sora beamed back; waiting to hear whatever it was that was so important that Mickey had called him here.

"Well, as you might have guessed… this isn't just a visit. I've got a job for you." His majesty said with a sobering expression on his face.

This immediately calmed all the happy nerves in Sora's body and with a bit of trepidation he decided to speak. "What is it your majesty?"

"Naminé has called in… she's apparently in some sort of danger. Something so awful she can't even explain it to me! I need you to…"

"…go through the door and save her… right?" Sora interrupted, feeling slightly more excited, though not much.

"Right!" Mickey said beaming at Sora.

"No problem majesty, just say when and I'm there." Sora said saluting the king.

"Ok then… let's go." Mickey hopped off his chair and began walking to the door.

"Wait… now?" Sora asked in surprise.

Mickey gave him a very piercing stare, "And when else is there?" He asked curiously.

"Uh… right! I knew that." Sora laughed and followed the mouse, accompanied by Goofy and Donald, who merely turned around because he'd already been on the other side of the door waiting.

----

They walked through the countryside and up to the large purple door that separated the kingdom from the realm of darkness.

"Alright then, just like last time." The king chirped cheerfully, then he noted the subtle chill coming off of Sora and he apologized immediately. "Oh Sora… I'm sorry, that was incredibly clumsy of me."

"It… it's alright, majesty." Sora managed stiffly, remembering even without the king's slip the last time he'd been in front of this door.

"How are things going with Kairi anyways?" The mouse asked, both trying to change the subject and find out if Kairi was holding up her promise.

"I'm thinking of breaking up with her soon." Sora replied, standing himself in front of the door.

"What!" The king asked in alarm.

"She drives me crazy your majesty… not that it matters that much whether I date her or not in the scheme of things. The truth is I think I'd rather deal with my mind alone than with her at my side." Sora shrugged.

"Well… I'll just have to talk to her about that…" The king muttered to himself.

"What?" Sora asked, not quite hearing what the king had said.

"Uh, I said that's too bad. Sorry to hear about that." The king lied, drawing out his keyblade.

"Oh… yeah." Sora replied shrugging again. "It's no big deal."

Together the two of them opened the door then Donald activated his magic to help keep back the shadows.

Sora spun around in surprise. "Wait… you guys aren't coming with me?"

Goofy shook his head and smiled, "Sorry Sora. Yer on yer own. We've got ta hold up this here shield so that you can get through. Go on now!"

Sora looked sadly at the three of them, then drew himself up and strode through the door. After he entered the three closed the door back up and made their way back to the castle.

"Good luck Sora." Mickey said to himself.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

**rozukitsune**


	3. Naminé

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, if I did then life would be beautiful

Key:

- _Dream State_ - , _Flashback _, ' thoughts ', " Dialogue "

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- A change in writing style/time/place/whatever (will notate in () which one)

Author's Note: This is the sequel to An Alternate Ending

Rating: M - for language and graphic images in later chapters

Warning: This is still a Sora/Riku fic… yeah. XD. Deal with it.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Chapter 3: Naminé)

_His majesty stood quietly in front of the nervous young redhead studying her thoughtfully. "Sora is in a lot of pain right now... I know you've been a good friend to him all of these years... so promise me that you will continue to help him get over this. We can't have our keyblade master wishing he were dead before we know for certain we can survive without him for a while."_

"That's... kind of mean... majesty." Kairi said thoughtfully.

_King Mickey bowed his head appologetically, "What I meant to say was... take care of him Kairi... he's far too young to wish for death."_

_Kairi smiled, "Don't you worry about a thing. I'll take good care of him."_

----

"You promised me you'd take care of him Kairi... he tells me ... that you're driving him crazy." The king said into his phone, choosing his words carefully so not to anger her too much.

"What? That's silly! He clings to me so much sometimes I can't breathe. Sir no offence, but I think you need to check your sources." Kairi's voice replied.

"Kairi... please promise me you will try harder from now on?" The king said exhasporated.

"Sure thing, majesty." Kairi chirped.

"Thanks..." -click- King Mickey hung up and hung his head. "I can see Sora's point... she's even driving _me_ nuts..."

"Yer majesty?"

King Mickey looked up to see a nervous looking Goofy. He blinked in surprise. "Yes Goofy?"

"Uh... you sure that sheild worked? I think I saw a shadowy thing slip through." Goofy said.

Mickey shook his head, "That's impossible, no heartless could have gotten through that shield."

"Well... if yer sure..." Goofy left Mickey looking thoughtful as he sat alone.

----

(Dark Realm)

Hack, Slash.

Sora cut through the hundreds and thousands of heartless that intercepted his pathway to Naminé's secret base. 'Wow... if there are this many heartless in between me and Naminé then there must be some big trouble ahead.' Sora thought excitedly, trying to imagine what kind of huge heartless might be in his way.

Soon he came upon the secret door, which was only visable to him because he was human. Eagerly he kicked it open and held out his sword. "Alright! Come on out heartless! Let go of Naminé!" He shouted...

Then he heard a very small snicker in the background and turned in amazement to find the object of his search... barely containing her laughter as she sat in her chair... clearly not in harms way.

He stared at her in absolute shock. This was... a prank? "Naminé? You're... not in danger?"

At the confused expression on his face she couldn't help herself and burst out laughing. "Hahahahahaha, heheheheheheee...hoo." She exploded spinning around in her chair.

At her outburst Sora's cheeks burst into a flame red. She'd... she'd tricked him! And she'd tricked the king on top of that. Somehow... Sora didn't think it was very funny... for her to have given out a false alarm like that. "Naminé..." He trailed off in disbelief. "How... could you do that?"

"I... I'm... heheh... sorry Sora. Ha...ha, I was... so ... haha... bored." She giggled, clutching her middle.

Sora blinked and his anger dimmed a little. "Bored? Yeah... I suppose you would be... hanging out here all the time. Why don't you come home? Then you'll have lots of people to hang around with." Suddenly an idea came to him. "Hey! You could hang out with Kairi if you wanted... she's lots of fun." He said excitedly.

Naminé swallowed her laughter and coughed a bit. "Come... home?" She stared at him quietly as though he'd said the nicest thing anyone had ever said to her.

"Uh... well... I mean... my home." Sora realized her question.

She smiled gently at him. "Well... if you insist."

He held out his hand for her and she took it stairing at him thoughtfully. 'No wonder everyone likes you so much...' She thought idly as she smiled. "You're so nice..."

Sora glanced at her momentarily and shrugged with a smile, "Yeah... " He said jumping ahead to clear the pathway. Naminé just smiled after him then followed in his wake, inwardly glad of a little secret surprise that she had in store for him...

----

**rozu: Ooooo... a surprise? Lemme guess... A kiss?**

**Naminé: sarcasm Yeah, right.**

**rozu: laughs It was worth a try.**

**rozukitsune**


	4. The Stranger

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, if I did then life would be beautiful

Key:

- _Dream State_ - , _Flashback _, ' thoughts ', " Dialogue "

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- A change in writing style/time/place/whatever (will notate in () which one)

Author's Note: This is the sequel to An Alternate Ending

Rating: M - for language and graphic images in later chapters

Warning: This is still a Sora/Riku fic… yeah. XD. Deal with it.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Chapter 4: The stranger)

_Naminé took care of the strange dark cloud for about a year, leaving food and water about for it to help itself to. She was as kind as possible to it and treated it like a pet... and as the year passed she watched the tiny light inside of it grow. Until at last at the end of the year the shadow began reforming itself... wrapping itself up and into a very familiar human shape._

_Naminé of course, had not seen this happen... as it did so overnight... and the next morning, as she was carrying her favorite shadow bacon and eggs, she dropped the tray, shattering the dishes and scattering the food as she found the last person she'd expected to see sleeping soundly on the couch. _

_At the noise he awoke, stairing at her as though he hadn't seen with his eyes in a very long time. She'd almost died of shock... but with a little of his help she had managed to get back into a chair so that she could stare at him properly._

_"Oh my god..." She'd managed, reaching out to touch his silver hair. However; he quickly moved away from her, and proceeded to sit as far away from her as possible, an uncomprehending look in his emerald eyes. She watched him curiously, trying to figure out what was wrong. But that look of confusion appeared to be permanent as his eyes scanned his surroundings, seeming to take it all in. _

_"W...w..." He stuttered._

_"What is it?" Naminé encouraged, trying to discover for herself what was going on._

_"Who... who am I? And... and where am I?" He recovered, staring at her in wonder._

_Naminé took this information into immediate thought. He... couldn't remember who he was? "Tell me... do you remember anything?"_

_"I... remember... a flash of light... and a nice voice. Your voice." He replied studying her with more curiousity now._

_"A flash of light? Can you tell me more about this light?" She encouraged him, smiling._

_"Do you know me?" He asked in response, clearly not inclined to answer her question._

_"Uh... yeah. You're my older brother." She lied with a straight face, smiling in a sisterly fashion for extra convincing._

_"Older... brother? Really? Then you know who I am!" He said excitedly, bouncing around like a little kid._

_"Yes... and you never jumped around like that before! You were a very mysterious and secretive kind of guy." She said, her alarmed expression at the idea of him showing any kind of silliness sobering him immediately._

_"Oh... I see. Well... what is your name?"He asked._

_"Naminé" She replied with a smile._

_"And... mine?"_

_"Uh... Kai." She invented off the top of her head, knowing in her heart that lying to Riku was wrong, but wanting to give him some time to recover before sending him back into his old life._

_-----_

_The years passed... and soon Naminé could no longer refuse to allow Riku to leave the confines of her protective area. "Ok, ok... you remember that story I told you? About the door?"_

_"Yes... what about it?" Riku replied curiously._

_"Well I think it's time that you left this grungy old place and saw some daylight. Your skin is far too pale."  
_

_"So's yours." He replied with a grin._

_"So it is... tell you what, we'll both go. But you'll go first... I have to let the door know we're coming so that it will be ready to open for us when we get there... and that's why you have to go first. After all, I've already seen the light, you haven't yet." Naminé replied._

_"Ok." He smiled._

_She dressed him in some very fancy violet clothing and drapped a earthen cloak over his shoulders. "There... you're ready."_

_"Thank you sister."_

_"You're welcome Kai." She replied with a smile. "Now remember, just head north... avoid the shadows... they'll probably leave you alone anyways... and wait next to the door... it will open soon after you get there if we time this right."_

_"And you? When will you come out?" Riku asked. _

_"Me? Not too long after you. But don't wait for me... I want you to search for those lost memories of yours."  
_

_"Wont you tell me what the key is? If this is the last time we meet, I should know." Riku complained_

_"Ok... how about I give you a hint? It's not a -what- but a -who-. A friend of yours from your childhood." She allowed._

_"A friend? Wow... I had friends?" Riku asked._

_"Yes... you had friends. The one you're looking for you've known all your life. You didn't know any of your other friends as long as this one."_

_"Is it a he, or a she?" Riku asked._

_Naminé touched her fingers to her lips. "Na-uh... that's for me to know and you to find out. Now get going!"_

_"Sheesh... alright already."_

----

_"Oh your majesty! Please send Sora quick... something terrible is happening! I don't have time to tell you what right now... but please get him here right away!"_

----

_Riku waited patiently by the door. True to Naminé's predictions there were lots of shadows waiting there too... but they all ignored him as though he was one of their own. Not too long afterwards the door opened and Riku had to shade his eyes from the violent light radiating into his world. He immediately drew the cloak over his eyes and watched, with mild amusement as someone walked in from the other side. He didn't bother waiting to see who it was, and left the door. He found the outside guarded by a magical shield that was keeping all the shadows from walking through it. He stuck his tongue out at them before walking through it as though it were water, then keeping his pace to the city that his sister had told him would be there._

----

**An entire chapter of flashbacks... I hope I explained everything... well... up to this point anyways.**

**XD**

**rozukitsune**


	5. Encountering Destiny

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, if I did then life would be beautiful

Key:

- _Dream State_ - , _Flashback _, ' thoughts ', " Dialogue "

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- A change in writing style/time/place/whatever (will notate in () which one)

Author's Note: This is the sequel to An Alternate Ending

Rating: M - for language and graphic images in later chapters

Warning: This is still a Sora/Riku fic… yeah. XD. Deal with it.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Chapter 5: Encountering Destiny)

Naminé and Sora headed through the door to light, rather than the one to darkness, because it was easier to get to. Sora opened the door without any effort at all and together they walked to the other side. As they descended into the regular world however; a shadow slipped past them into the light without their noticing.

--------

The next few days went by without anything of particular notice. Sora went home and introduced Naminé to Kairi. The two staired at each other for a very long time and eventually Sora decided to wander off and let them introduce themselves.

"So... we finally meet." Naminé muttered softly.

"You... you're so familiar." Kairi replied as she studied Naminé. They were the same height... with the same face... and same general body shape. They even had the same blue eyes.

Naminé smiled, "Yes... you are my other." She said simply, like it was the most easy thing in the world to comprehend.

"Your... other?" Kairi said, even more confused than before.

Naminé sighed and went into a long winded explination of Sora's first few years as the hero... well, she explained as much as she herself understood.

"So... because I was a shell... I earned a nobody... ?" Kairi tried to repeat, still very lost.

"Suffice to say that because your heart left your body a 'nobody' was created of you. Resulting in me." Naminé said.

Kairi thought about this for a while. "But... that would mean Sora has a nobody too... right?" She asked curiously, wondering if she had gotten that right.

"That's correct... the young man's name is Roxas." Naminé offered.

"Wait... you're serious? There's a copy of Sora running around?" Kairi asked in amazement.

Naminé giggled and offered Kairi a sympathetic glance. "Well... we aren't copies exactly... more like... shells. We aren't you... and you aren't us. Yet, if I wanted to I could fuse with you."

"Fuse?" Kairi asked, looking totally lost.

"Nevermind." Naminé sighed in exhasporation. "Let's just say that we nobodies are... shells. We are empty inside and we don't generally know why." Naminé smiled sadly.

"Wow... that's... bizarre." Kairi admonished.

"Tell me about it. Although in my case, because your heart was hosted in Sora's body for such a long period of time, I gained the ability to rearrange his memories and the memories of everyone around him." Naminé said thoughtfully.

"What?" Kairi asked in surprize.

"Well, didn't it seem odd to you that he came home after being away for a while, and didn't seem to have any stories to tell from his trials?" Naminé asked point blank.

Kairi considered this, "Now that you mention it... yes, I did find it wierd that he didn't have anything new to tell me. When he came home all those years ago I mean." She said. "In fact... I seem to recall that Riku always managed to change the subject every time I brought it up." Kairi mentioned idly, stairing at Naminé with curiosity.

"That whole thing was my fault. You see, at the time I had been a prisoner in a large castle named Oblivion. I was being forced against my will to help some of the other nobodies in their attempt to overthrow something called "The Organization." I don't know much about it myself, except that they wanted to use Sora for their plans. I used my powers to influence his memories to make him forget you... and put myself in your place. But the plan didn't work, because Sora would have never forgotten you. I... after all... am just another you. Your shadow." Naminé explained.

"Right... ok...wait, there are more nobodies?" Kairi asked curiously.

"Yes... there are many more. They're just about as common as heartless. But there are only a handful that are as advanced as myself. What I mean to say is... only a handful that are intelligent human beings." Naminé stumbled over herself in attempting to explain this.

"Ok... well... are they good too then?" Kairi tilted her head.

"No... not many of them understand as much as I do. Even Roxas is a bit confused. But there is one more thing I must mention about these nobodies. They aren't dark." Naminé said somberly.

"Not... dark?" Kairi asked.

"Nope... they are of a whole new group... they are stuck in the twilight." Naminé explained.

"Twilight... as in... they're both light and dark?" Kairi asked.

"Yes... now you're getting it." Naminé confirmed, beaming.

"Ok... well, wait! Does that mean they can get through both the door to light and to dark?" Kairi asked incredulously.

Naminé looked thoughtful. "Well... yes actually, after all. I've been through both. Though I would not have been able to summon the door to light without Sora's help... and the door to darkness is locked from the outside. So there's really nothing to worry about." She smiled

"Oh... ok then." Kairi said.

----------------------------------

**AN: I thought I aught to mention, that I based my description of the 'nobodies' off of what I read in Wikipedia because, sadly, I have not played KH2 just yet. If there's something you think I forgot/need to add/need to fix/need to delete entirely, please feel free to let me know. Your help will be much appreciated. Incidentally, if you dont care/or don't know, if I did anything wrong in this chapter... feel free to tell me how much you loved it too.**

**P.S.: If this chapter seems drudgy to you, that's because it's mostly to get the information out there... and it's very necessary people know what I'm talking about or else they might read the rest of the story and be very confused. :)**

**rozukitsune**


	6. The forgotten one and his shadow

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, if I did then life would be beautiful

Key:

- _Dream State_ -, _Flashback,_ ' thoughts ', " Dialogue "

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- A change in writing style/time/place/whatever (will notate in () which one)

Author's Note: This is the sequel to An Alternate Ending

Rating: M - for language and graphic images in later chapters

Warning: This is still a Sora/Riku fic… yeah. XD. Deal with it.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Chapter 6: The forgotten one and his shadow)

A 21-year-old man walked casually down the street. He had long silver hair with black streaks running through it. His bright green eyes scanned the pedestrians as he passed by. An almost... sinister hue hinting in the dark pupils of his eyes. As he walked down the street a chocolate-haired young man about his own age, that didn't seem to be paying any special attention to where he's going, ran right into him. Green eyes met electric blue.

----

(Sora's Pov)

I had been walking down the street when suddenly I ran right into someone. I looked up to apologize... and flash! I saw his green eyes and it triggered an instant reaction inside of me. "R-riku?"

----

"R-riku?" Came a startled reply from the brunette. Silver eyebrows arched in mild interest, then the man went back to walking, ignoring the younger man's surprise.

"Hey! Wait! Riku!" The brunette followed along and clamped a tanned hand on the older man's shoulder. This time however when the silver haired man turned around to stare at him... he no longer saw the resemblance. After all ... there were streaks of black in this man's hair!

"Oh... I... I'm so sorry!" Sora muttered sheepishly, his face turning red as a tomato. "I... I guess I mistook you for someone else"

"It's alright... you'd be surprised how often that happens to me." The man replied softly, grinning at Sora. "My name is Xukir... and yours?" The man offered a hand.

Sora shook it and offered a half-smile, "Sora."

"Well, Sora, I was just heading down to the bar. Would you like to come with me?" Xukir offered.

Sora considered the offer seriously. It had been a long time since he'd done anything other than go to work and then go home. Perhaps this outing would be a good first step back into reality.

"Sure... why not." Sora replied falling into step behind Xukir. As they walked Sora took the time to study this strange man. Sora had met all sorts of people in his job as hotel manager... and it was always his inclination to find out everything he could about them.

"So... where are you from?" Sora asked politely as they turned the next corner.

"Oh... here and there, I'm a wanderer." Xukir said.

"Really? Wow, I'll bet that's interesting. Meet all sorts of people; see all kinds of places. But wouldn't you get home sick? Or ... wish that you had a place to call home?" Sora asked curiously, rambling out loud.

Xukir chuckled, "Actually I generally keep to myself... there are few people, like you, that I spend any time with at all on my travels. I think I'm searching for something, but I don't know what."

Sora nodded sagely, "Well... yeah. I mean you're a wanderer... so you'd have to be searching for something."

The two entered the bar and paused a moment at the door for their eyes to adjust to the darkness before they walked in and found a place to sit.

Xukir insisted on paying for the drinks and then relaxed into his chair.

"So... tell me more about this 'Riku' person that you mistook me for earlier." Xukir said conversationally, sipping his beer.

Sora's smile fell slightly and his electric blue eyes found something fascinating to stare at on the floor. "Uh... nah, that's not really a good conversation."

Xukir raised a silver eyebrow. "Oh come on now, it can't be that bad. You were chasing after me like you'd found your best friend!" He reminded Sora.

Sora seemed thoughtful, then resigning himself to the inevitable he took a very large gulp of his wine, coughed a bit, then set his drink down on the table and got his wits about him.

"Well... Riku... he... um. Well, he _was_ my best friend." Sora offered, starting with Xukir's comment.

"Was?" Xukir asked.

"Yeah... he... he died... five years ago." Sora managed, clearly making an effort not to come to tears.

"He died? I'm so sorry to hear that." Xukir said... and although his voice sounded anything but apologetic, Sora didn't notice his odd tone of voice and broke into sobs.

"I killed him! I killed my best friend... " Sora sobbed.

"Shhh! Get a grip on yourself man! Seriously... you can't still be blaming yourself after five years!" Xukir said in alarm, glancing around to make sure they weren't bothering anyone.

"No! You don't understand... I really killed him! I was the one with the keyblade in my hands... he was the one bleeding on the other end." Sora said sharply.

Xukir looked surprised, "So... you're a murderer? Then what the hell are you doing out of jail?"

"No! I... I didn't want to kill him! We were friends. Best friends." Sora tried to explain.

"Can't have been that great if you killed him." Xukir said bluntly.

"Look, you have to understand! I wasn't myself... if I only hadn't denied my own heart... if I only hadn't let the darkness take me in... I would never have killed Riku... I loved him." Sora sobbed.

Xukir's expression calmed slightly. "Loved?" He asked in confusion.

"Riku... he... I hadn't seen it. I was just a dumb kid. He wanted me... and I refused him. Why? Because I didn't understand it... oh how I wish I had understood. Riku loved me. And... I loved him back... I was just too stubborn to admit it."

As Sora ranted and rambled... Xukir was paying exceptionally close attention, more attention than any normal person would have been giving Sora as he drunkenly spilled his heart out to this guy he barely even knew.

But surprisingly, he wasn't the only one giving Sora his full attention. Someone sitting nearby was also watching the brunette with a very strange expression in their eyes...

"And after his death I've been seeing him in myself... everytime I look at my reflection in anything. And the doctors say that it's normal... but it's NOT normal! Normal people see the dead in OTHER people... not themselves. And you're the only person that I've ever seen him in besides me! How does that make any sense!" Sora rambled some more, at the moment he was venting his annoyance at the psychiatric system. This part in particular was interesting to both of his onlookers.

"You see him in yourself...?" Xukir muttered softly, gathering Sora's surprised attention.

"Wha? Uh yeah." Sora stumbled in his tirade, surprised that he still had an audience.

"That's not normal at all." Xukir responded quietly.

"I KNEW it! Tell me more!" Sora insisted, leaning over and paying rapt attention... well as rapt as he could being drunk.

"Well, from what you've told me so far... I'd say that the moment he died a piece of him found it's way into you." Xukir offered, watching Sora's reaction carefully.

Sure enough a lightbulb seemed to have turned on in the brunette's head. A memory swam before his eyes... of that final strike. How Riku's body had slowly begun to disappear into sparkles. Sparkles of both light and darkness. Sora vaguely recalled some of those sparkles heading towards him, following the light of the keyblade. Sora had grabbed at them, trying to hold onto them... and they'd disappeared into his skin. He hadn't thought much of it at the time.

"Yeah!" Sora replied finally, nodding and waiting for Xukir to continue.

"Well, technically... that happens very rarely... but it means that Riku is actually... sort of alive. Inside of you. That's why you can see him in yourself. Because he really _is_ a part of you." Xukir explained.

"Alive?" Sora's expression was priceless; his eyes went wide as saucers and a brilliant shimmer of hope flared within their blue depths.

"Well... uh... not exactly alive. Anyway... if you ever want to get over him, you're going to have to let them go." Xukir said somberly.

"How?" Sora asked, his happy bubble bursting and leaving him even more pathetic looking than before.

"Well, you have to want to get over him. You have to consciously will him to go away. You have to want him to leave, and want to forget his memories. They're being a burden on you Sora! Don't you want them to go away?" Xukir said, gripping the boy's shoulders and shaking him.

"NO!" Came a shout from the other side of the room. Moments later a blonde young man tossed himself at Xukir and knocked him away from Sora, the two of them wrestling fiercely on the bar's floor. Immediately the bartender called the police and hopped over the counter top to stop the fight.

Sora sat there completely stupefied by the whole mess. Who the hell was this other guy? Where'd he come from? And what business of his was it that Sora may or may not have said yes to Xukir anyway?

Xukir fought off his attacker, the two of them rolling across the floor and crashing into tables. Fists flew as one or the other gained the upper hand and there were many bruises forming on either man.

At last the two men were pulled apart, lips and noses bleeding profusely. Xukir managed to get a good look at his attacker before the police started their questioning to figure out who it was they were supposed to arrest.

Blue eyes... electric blue eyes.

----

**Buahahaha... can you guess who? Sorry this chapter took so long; I couldn't decide whom to introduce in this part.**

**rozukitsune**


	7. A run in with fate

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, if I did then life would be beautiful

Key:

- _Dream State_ -, _Flashback,_ ' thoughts ', " Dialogue "

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- A change in writing style/time/place/whatever (will notate in () which one)

Author's Note: This is the sequel to An Alternate Ending

Rating: M - for language and graphic images in later chapters

Warning: This is still a Sora/Riku fic… yeah. XD. Deal with it.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Chapter 7: A run-in with fate)

Night fell and Sora stumbled homeward, having been left to his own devices after the two troublemakers had been escorted from the bar. No one paid any mind to the brunette who, instead of going to work, stayed in the bar and drunk himself into a stupor. Or at least he'd tried to. Thankfully the bartender had stopped giving him drinks and had insisted he started to head home.

And so he did, stumbling along the pavement as though he was in the middle of a huge earthquake. The few people that passed by whispered to one another about drunkards and whatnot, but their insults went unnoticed by Sora, because he was far too intoxicated to care.

However, Sora being drunk had another side effect... he wasn't even heading home. The brunette managed to stumble his way down to the beach, where he promptly tripped because he wasn't ready for the change from pavement to sand.

"Eat dirt often? Or is this a first time for you?" Came a sarcastic drawl from nearby.

Sora struggled to his feet then slipped back into the sand helplessly.

"Woah... hey are you ok?" The drawl came closer and Sora found strong arms lifting him out of his sandy prison.

Sora wearily glanced up; barely registering the stranger's appearance before his stomach finally gave out on him.

He quickly found himself on all fours puking up all of the alcohol from before while the stranger held him gently around the middle so that he didn't fall in his own sludge.

After the deluge was over Sora passed out, leaving the stranger with very few options.

----

(The next morning)

Sora awoke groggily, violently aware of the pounding in his ears. He did the only thing he could; he clapped his hands over his ears in an attempt to shut out the pain.

"Heh... that's not going to help much, here..." Strong arms lifted Sora to a seating position and gently pried his hands from his ears.

"Owwww!" Sora complained as a glass of cool water was forced into his hands.

"Swallow these..." Said the voice and Sora found two white pills being pushed up against his closed lips. Obediently he took the pills in and swallowed them followed by the water in the glass. He grimaced at the feeling of the pills going down his throat.

"Thanks..." Sora managed, making an effort now to turn his attention to his new friend. At the image that surfaced before his sight however, he immediately assumed he was still under the influence of his headache.

"X...xukir?" Sora made a feeble attempt at guessing.

A hearty chuckle erupted from the stranger. "Relax... you don't know me. I found you on the beach stumbling around drunk. You threw up then passed out in my arms. I didn't know where you lived... so I brought you to where I'm staying."

Sora didn't look very relieved, but at least he wasn't panicking now that some stranger had picked him up and taken him home. Somehow, Sora understood that whoever this person was, he'd rescued him. "Uh... thanks." Sora smiled. "I'm Sora..." He introduced from his place on the bed where he'd been placed.

"I go by Kai... nice to meet you Sora." Said the emerald-eyed man, smiling back at Sora.

"You 'go by Kai'? What does that mean?" Sora asked curiously, his headache fading a bit. He could see better now, 'Kai' was very tall with long silver hair and brilliant emerald eyes. He was wearing a long black trenchcoat over a royal purple undershirt and a pair of loose black pants. That's as far as he could see from where he was perched, but it was enough to continue to make Sora doubt his soberness. This man just... he just couldn't be... it had to be another trick of his mind like Xukir.

Kai looked thoughtful for a moment, "Well... Kai isn't my real name... it's a nick name that someone gave to me." He replied.

"Well... ok. But what's your real name?" Sora asked.

"I don't know." Kai replied looking sad.

"You don't know? How come?" Sora continued to probe.

Kai gave him a smirk. "You are awfully curious aren't you? I suppose I should take it as a compliment that you want to know so much about me. But as long as there are questions being asked... I'd like to get a few answered myself after we're done talking about me." He insisted, staring Sora down.

"Well... ok, I guess it's only fair." Sora grumbled, not really wanting to tell this stranger about himself... even though he admonished that the man deserved to know since Sora was asking so many questions.

Kai smiled and pulled up a chair. "Ok then. Well, to make a long story short, I don't know who I am. A very nice young lady found me several years ago and she helped me to get back on my feet. What happened before that though, I have no idea. I have no memories at all of who I was or how that girl found me. I finally left her to try and chase down my lost memories. I'm hoping to run into someone that I knew, before I lost my memories. Seeing some familiar faces is supposed to help with that kind of thing." He explained for Sora's benefit.

"Wow... but how do you know you even had any friends to remember?" Sora asked.

Kai sighed, "The young lady happened to know a little about my past. She said that I had a friend... and when I found them I would know it."

"Oh. Well that's lucky I guess." Sora smiled.

"Yeah... well now it's your turn. What's a guy like you doing getting yourself drunk? You just don't seem like the type to me." Kai asked slyly.

Sora had the grace to blush faintly. "Actually... I've been feeling really low for the past few years. Frankly I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner, and more often. You see my best friend died five years ago... and I... I guess I just haven't gotten over it." Sora said, tears threatening at his eyes.

"Wow... I'm so sorry to hear that. But still, somehow... you strike me as a happy-go-lucky type of guy. This person, your friend, must have been really important to you for you to be so depressed for five years... right?" Kai asked.

"Yeah..." Sora looked up and studied Kai curiously.

"Well then, if you two were so close, by the same token wouldn't they have wanted you to be happy in life? Instead of miserable all the time?" Kai suggested.

"Well... yeah." Sora said thoughtfully, and sounded quite surprised he hadn't happened upon this line of logic before.

Kai smiled, "So your friend is dead... you shouldn't drag their memories through the dust and cling to them in vain. You should remember the happy parts... and let out that smile that I know is in you somewhere."

And Sora did, beaming his first true smile in many years. "Wow... I don't know what to say. I feel so much better now." He said honestly. His smile faded slightly when he noticed the surprised glance in his savior's eyes. "What's up?" He asked.

"Your smile... I... I don't know." Kai said, running a hand through his silver hair and looking a little distressed. "Something about your smile... is very familiar to me." He said quietly.

Sora blinked and sat up. "Really? What do you remember?" He asked.

_The cool waves washed along the beach. Big palm trees cast their shadows upon the sand as two very small boys raced along its edge, giggling as the ocean spray tickled them._

"_You can't catch me! Na na na na na naaa!" Shouted the silver-haired one who was just ahead of the brunette. _

"_Rikuuuuu... you're too fast!" The brunette wined as he pumped his little legs as fast as he could._

"_Na-uh, you're just too slow." The silver-haired boy responded with a laugh as they raced._

Kai snapped back to reality and shook his head. "I'm not sure... but whatever it is I'm sure that it was connected to your smile." Kai smiled. "C'mon... let's get you home... I'll bet someone is missing that smile of yours."

Sora blinked in amazement, he'd totally forgotten about the outside world! "Heh... yeah I guess so." He accepted a hand up from the older man and together they walked out of the apartment.

Sora led the way back to his own house on the island. Kai following along just to make sure that Sora made it alright, even though the younger man insisted he could find his way home by himself.

"Well here I am... home sweet home." Sora said.

Kai couldn't help but hear the slight amount of sarcasm in the brunette's voice as he unlocked the door to his house.

Sora stepped inside and looked around. "Kairi?" He called out. "You home?" He asked the air.

"Sora! Where on Earth have you been! I've been worried sick about you!" Exclaimed the redhead from the kitchen where she promptly ran over to him from. She nearly knocked him over in her zeal to hug the stuffing out of him. "Don't you ever scare me like that again!"

"Kairi... can't ... breathe." Sora gasped, trying to pry the young woman off of him.

"Oh... sorry." She smiled, releasing her hold slightly and settling for kissing his cheek, which made him pale a bit in annoyance.

"A-hem..." Coughed Kai, slightly miffed by being ignored.

Kairi glanced over to the other man in the doorway, and the coloring in her face dropped significantly. "Y-yes?" She asked quietly, disbelieving her own eyes.

"Oh... Kairi... this is Kai... he uh... saved me." Sora said blushing softly.

Kai bowed his head; "It's a pleasure to meet you Kairi. Your friend here was drunk on the beach last night. I found him and kept him safe." He explained.

"O-oh! Well, thank you very much for returning him." Kairi managed and ushered Sora inside for later when she'd shout off his ear for being so reckless.

Kai and her were now alone in the doorway, and before she could stop herself she finally voiced her reaction. "Riku?" She asked. Her face still quite ashen.

Kai blinked at her and raised his eyebrows. "No, my name is Kai."

"But... you look... exactly... the same." She insisted, not comprehending why, after all these years... she was seeing things now too, just like Sora.

"You are mistaken... surely there must be a lot of people who look like this 'Riku' person." Kai insisted.

"No... he was unique." She replied.

"Besides... how can I be him, if he's dead?" Kai asked smartly.

"Sora told you?" Kairi asked.

"Yeah. Well, I should get going now." Kai turned to leave, and was stopped in his tracks by the person walking up the path.

"Kai!" Chirped the blonde with a big grin on her face.

"Naminé!" Exclaimed Kai, racing forward to hug the blonde. "I thought I'd never see you again!"

Naminé smiled, "Same here. Well it was nice running into you."

"Yeah... see you later." Kai said walking off.

Naminé watched him for a while with a soft smile then turned around to face Kairi. Whose face read 'Spill' all over it.

Naminé gulped quietly. Uh oh.

----

**Hehe**

**rozukitsune**


	8. Explinations

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, if I did then life would be beautiful

Key:

- _Dream State_ -, _Flashback,_ ' thoughts ', " Dialogue "

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- A change in writing style/time/place/whatever (will notate in () which one)

Author's Note: This is the sequel to An Alternate Ending

Rating: M - for language and graphic images in later chapters

Warning: This is still a Sora/Riku fic… yeah. XD. Deal with it.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Chapter 8: Explinations)

"So... I took care of the darkness for a year or so, not thinking too much of it. Then one day I was bringing it breakfast as always, and there in my spare bed lay Riku." Naminé finished stairing pointedly at her feet. "He didn't remember anything... and I don't know much about him myself, so I decided to help him back on his feet... but other than that I made a point not to confuse him anymore than he was."

"So you lied to him about his own name?" Kairi asked, stairing at Naminé seriously, uncomprehending why even telling Riku his own name had been so important to keep from him.

"Oh Kairi, don't you see what would've happened? He would have come here... and so many people would have known his name. He would have been driven insane by people demanding he remember them. I lied to him to protect him from that! Now when they call "Riku" after him, he won't respond, and thusly he wont get confused. He has time now to discover himself. Why take that from him?" Naminé returned, looking at Kairi as though she begged the girl to understand.

Thankfully the redhead wasn't quite as unsympathetic as she made herself out to be. "Well... I guess it's for the best." She allowed and sighed kicking her feet slightly. "I'm going to have a hell of a time keeping this from Sora." She admitted.

"It wont be so hard. Sora thinks that Riku's name is Kai... and for now that's good enough. In time the memories of Riku that are locked in Sora's heart will seep through and return to Riku. After all, as long as the two keep running into each other, their natural attraction for one another will release the memories from Sora's heart without inventing yet another Nobody." Naminé said sagely. "Riku will eventually remember he's Riku. And as for Sora, he's brighter than you give him credit for. He'll realize Riku is who he is long before Riku himself does."

"You think so?" Kairi asked quietly.

"I know so." Naminé said confidantly, causing Kairi to smile.

"Well, I suppose it's not so bad then." She replied.

A pair of emerald eyes blinked and disappeared from around the corner. The two girls, completely unaware that their entire conversation about Riku and his heart had reached the ears of the last person that aught to have that information.

"So... the key to a heart is attraction. Well I'm sure there's _some_ way I can exploit that..."

----

(Later)

Sora trudged down to the beach. He felt like spending the rest of the day relaxing on the sand to rest his poor head. Kairi had yelled at him for hours about how irresponsible he was, and how getting himself drunk wasn't an answer to all of his problems. Idly he wondered how long it was going to take him to pick up the nerve to leave her. After all, he'd decided almost a week ago to do it... what on Earth was he still dragging his feet about?

He momentarily forgot his troubles however, when he noticed a solitary figure sitting on a Paopu tree. Sora couldn't help the flashback that swam before his eyes... a younger Riku sitting there... while they talked about their plans to sail away together to discover other worlds.

Sora shook his head free of the cobwebs and jogged over. "Come here often?" He asked the silver haired man.

Kai turned in surprize to see the brunette standing there grinning at him and offered back a smile. "Actually, yes. This place seems to just draw me to it. I suppose its the beautiful view." He said, gesturing out to the calm sea as it lapped gently on the shore.

"Riku loved this view too." Sora said quietly, tucking his hands behind his head and leaning up against the Paopu tree.

"Is that so?" Kai replied conversationally.

"Yeah... anytime I wanted to talk to him, he would always be sitting right here, stairing off into the distance." Sora reminisced. "We used to talk about life, the universe, and girls." He laughed.

"Mm... girls. Sounds like a fascinating way to spend your time." Kai said laughing.

"Yeah... although, now that I look back on it. It must have been torture for him, talking about Kairi all the time with me... when he had no interest in her at all." Sora looked thoughtful.

"Oh? Well lucky you right? I mean it looks like you two were meant for each other." Kai said quietly.

"What? Oh! No... you see, I... I didn't know what I wanted. I guess, deep inside, I had always known that our bond went deeper than friendship. I just didn't understand at the time, what that meant." Sora explained.

Kai tilted his head to the side, "You mean ... you're gay?" He asked.

"Well... yes. So was Riku. He's the one who made me realize the truth about myself." Sora said softly.

Kai looked a little surprized, but mostly he was still smiling. "Well, I suppose I should have gathered that, from the way you talk about him all the time."

"Anyways... enough about me. What about you? What did you remember yesterday?" Sora poked.

"Huh? Well, why do you want to know?" Kai immediately defended.

Sora smiled, "Well you practically saved my life yesterday. I figure I owe you, and I decided I'm going to help you get back your memories any way I can. Maybe by talking about them you'll remember more!"

Kai nodded and sighed. "Well... thank you."

_A little boy sat in a sandbox, outside of a big white house. He whistled happily as he pushed tiny plastic animals through the sand, making sounds for them as they crossed the Sahara of his two-year-old imagination. A big noise behind him made him look up with curiosity as a big shiny car rolled up to the house across the street. He ran his tiny fingers through his adorable brown locks that his mother had decided to tame that morning. Her attempts at making him appear neat however, went in vain, as now there was sand everywhere and his hair stuck out in every direction._

_Out of the big shiny car stepped a very big man with long white hair and a skinny young lady with grey hair. The little boy supposed that they were a mommy and daddy... though they certainly weren't –his-. The mommy walked to the back of the car and opened another door. After a few moments, where the little boy could almost imagine the mommy unbuckling that really annoying seat-thingy that his mommy made –him- wear. _

_Finally she walked away from the car, revealing a very small boy around his own age. The boy had grey hair! The brunette got up, brushing some of the sand off of himself, and toddled over to the other boy._

"_Hi!" He called out, catching the other boy's attention._

"_Go away." Said the strange one, giving him a very mean glare with his big green eyes._

"_My name is Sora! What's yours? Did you know you've got grey hair! Like my gramma... shes got grey hair too." Sora rambled childishly, grinning from ear to ear._

"_My hair's not –grey-!" The boy replied indignantly. "It's –silver-. And I said go away." He repeated._

"_But you didn't say your name yet! That's rude. My mommy says that if you tell someone your name they have to tell you their name too." Sora replied, dancing around happily._

"_Fine... if I tell you my name will you go away?" The boy asked._

"_Yep!" Sora clapped happily._

"_Riku." The boy replied._

"_Yay!" And much to Riku's dismay the two-year old promptly hugged him. "That wasn't so hard was it?"_

"_I... thought you said you would go away." Riku said blinking in surprize. _

"_Mm...nope. Changed my mind. Riku, let's be friends! I don't have any friends. Will you please be my friend?" Sora clapped happily after releasing Riku._

_The silver-haired boy couldn't help but smile, the brunette's happy-go-lucky mood was contagious._

"Your friend...?" Kai muttered as he returned from this sudden flashback, noting that Sora's face was inches before his own.

"What? Did you just remember something else?" Sora asked curiously.

"I remembered... two little boys. My first memory... they were racing each other. And this one just now... must have been their first meeting."

"What did the boy's look like? Do you remember their names?" Sora asked curiously.

Kai looked thoughtful. "One had... brown hair... and ... one had... grey hair." He attempted to describe, these memories having been extremely fuzzy for him.

"Ok." Sora prodded.

"I ... I can't remember their names." He said softly, looking like he was really thinking hard.

"That's ok... maybe next time." Sora beamed happily.

Kai smiled back weakly. "Well...at least I'm remembering something right?"

"Exactly! You'll be back to... whoever you were, in no time!" Sora grinned.

"I hope you're right."

----

Kai watched Sora leave to go to work and sighed. The little boy from his memories... if he imagined in a few years... then it would be a perfect match. So now the question... was Sora the boy from his memories? He would have to wait for a few more of them to find out. But he smiled as a feeling of familiar warmth crept into his heart, whether or not he'd known Sora previously, he was certain he'd never forget him again.

----

Awwwwwww

**Kai/Riku : How much longer do I have to pretend I don't know who I am?**

**Xukir: Buah... you can't remember everything yet... I haven't even gotten around to threatening you!**

**Roxas: Hmm... well I suppose I should consider myself lucky I didn't get thrown in jail.**

**rozu: Hey! The readers aren't supposed to know that yet!**

**Roxas: Oops.**

**Sora, Naminé, and Kairi all laugh.**


	9. A heart in danger

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, if I did then life would be beautiful

Key:

- _Dream State_ -, _Flashback,_ ' thoughts ', " Dialogue "

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- A change in writing style/time/place/whatever (will notate in () which one)

Author's Note: This is the sequel to An Alternate Ending

Rating: M - for language and graphic images in later chapters

Warning: This is still a Sora/Riku fic… yeah. XD. Deal with it.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Chapter 9: A heart in danger)

"Back again?"

Kai nearly jumped a mile out of his skin and spun around to the voice that had broken his thoughts. His next reaction was to double take and stare involuntarily at the strange man who'd snuck up on him as he jumped up to his usual seat on the Paopu tree.

"Don't stare, it's rude." Said the man who could have been a mirror image of Kai... with the exception of the black streaks running through his long hair.

Kai coughed and shook his head a little, "Right, sorry. Um..." He stammered trying to put the scrambled pieces of his brain back in order.

"Look, I've been watching you for a while, and you seem like a nice-enough guy to me. But I have something very important to tell you. It's imperative that you listen very closely and believe in every thing I tell you." The man said in a hushed and urgent tone of voice.

"W-what is it?" Kai asked nervously, wondering why this stranger had been apparently stalking him, and what he could possibly have to say.

"That boy that you've been hanging around with, Sora, he's my best friend from childhood." The man began.

"Your... best friend?" Kai asked in surprise, slightly unnerved.

"Yes... you see, I have come to you to ask you a favor. My name is Riku and five years ago he nearly killed me, but it wasn't his fault, a heartless had captured his mind and forced him to fight me. I used all of my love for him in order to win him free of the heartless, but unfortunately in doing so I lost my very heart." 'Riku' looked downcast. "I've been roaming in the shadows for such a long time... trying to figure out what I can do to get my life back and be with him again. And as I've been watching you I've discovered the answer. Sora has my heart inside of him... and I need to urge it out of him by reminding him how much he loves me."

Kai felt like something had shattered inside of his body. A lone phrase repeating in his mind '...he's my best friend from childhood'. Helplessly he offered his counterpart as sympathetic a smile as he could muster. "So... what do you want from me?" He asked, without breaking his voice.

"I need you to stay away from Sora for a while, with you hogging all of his attention it's been really hard for me to find some time alone. I'm not saying you can't be friends with him anymore! Just... let me have him for a little while. You understand don't you?" 'Riku' asked quietly.

"Sure... good luck." Kai replied quietly and promptly began walking home.

'Riku' watched Kai disappear across the sand and smirked to himself. "Perfect... with that idiot out of the way, his heart will be mine! Or my name isn't Xukir..."

----

Kai kicked up sand as he walked along the beach. "All that work for nothing." He grumbled in annoyance. Inside he felt like he was dying. Sora had been someone else's all along... not his. No wonder his past wasn't coming back to him like Naminé had predicted. Kai paused a moment.

Still, he had started to remember _some_ things... and for a reason he could not explain he felt he had fallen hard for the longhaired brunette. He sighed and shook his head. He couldn't think like that anymore... he would have to start from scratch. "Fuck." He muttered.

----

"_So who started this fight?" The beefy police officer asked the blonde point blank._

_"I did sir." Replied the blonde without missing a beat. The policeman regarded him, trying to decide what kind of a mischief-maker he was._

"_So why did you start the fight then?" The officer asked, having already taken numerous tests on the blonde only to discover that the young man had been entirely sober at the time._

"_Well officer, I thought I saw a knife in his hand. I was merely trying to protect the innocent person. But I see now that what I saw was merely a trick of the light. I'm very sorry for disturbing the peace." The blonde replied easily, looking regretful and apologetic._

"_Oh... alright then. You're free to go, just be more careful next time ok? And if you really think you see something, call the cops first next time." The man grunted in response._

----

Bright blue eyes watched the forlorn silver figure stomp his way childishly back to an apartment overlooking the placid ocean. A slow frown etched its way onto the features of the mystery man as he sensed the brewings of shadows.

----

Sorry that this chapter is so short... it was actually longer, but I had to chop it in two.

**rozukitsune**


	10. Quest for the self

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, if I did then life would be beautiful

Key:

- Dream State -, Flashback, ' thoughts ', " Dialogue "

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- A change in writing style/time/place/whatever (will notate in () which one)

Author's Note: This is the sequel to An Alternate Ending

Rating: M - for language and graphic images in later chapters

Warning: This is still a Sora/Riku fic… yeah. XD. Deal with it.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Chapter 10: Quest for the self)

Knock, Knock

Kai glanced up as he heard someone banging away at his front door only seconds after he'd returned to his place of solitude. "For crissake... can't the world ever leave a guy to mope in peace?" He muttered to himself as he got up to answer the door. When he opened it, he was very surprised to find a man he'd never seen before standing on his porch and looking apprehensive.

"You need to get a hold over yourself. Don't loose sight of the light within the darkness." The blonde said simply.

"Light... within...?" Why did those words sound so familiar to him? Kai stared at the stranger, "Wait a minute... who are you? And what the hell are you talking about?"

"My name is Roxas, I am not unlike yourself. Caught between the worlds of light and darkness... but your name is well known amoung the few of us that care. I have, after some discussion with a very close friend of yours, taken it upon myself a personal mission to make sure that you rediscover yourself. I felt, as you were walking up, that you were succumbing to the darkness in your heart." Roxas said calmly.

Kai was half confused and half slowly comprehending what Roxas was saying. But still there were many questions to ask... like how did anyone know his name? And which personal friend was he talking about.

"Listen to me Riku, you can't give in. You alone managed to survive when anyone else would have perished or became a heartless. You were smart enough to keep a part of yourself inside of you, the part that didn't involve Sora... though that part, I imagine, was very small... still it helped you to survive. And with Naminé's care you've returned to this world to find him again." Roxas preached.

Kai was now stairing unabashedly. "What the... wait... you've got the wrong dude." He shook his head and took a few steps back, looking rather angry. "My name is Kai, number one. Number two, this 'Riku' guy that you're talking about is already well aware of everything that you just said and is going to try and get his heart back or something... and anyways its none of my business. And number three, I don't know how you know about Naminé but you better not have hurt her!" He said angrilly grabbing Roxas by the collar of his shirt and shoving him up against the nearby wall.

"What?" Roxas asked in alarm, immediately bringing up his legs to kick Kai in the chest. The older man released him and stumbled backwards, tripping over the living room table.

"You mean to tell me that your other ... oh god..."

It suddenly became Kai's turn to be held captive, by two keyblades to be exact. "Now listen carefully. I don't want to hurt you... but if you give me a reason I will." Roxas seethed. Kai shuddered obediantly underneath the two menacing weapons, unaware that deep inside of his memories somewhere was the knowledge of how to kick the crap out of this particular blonde.

"Your name is Riku. Not Kai. This other person that your talking about is not Riku... he's an immitation... a fake. The only thing he wants is to kill Sora and take over the world using your heart!" Roxas said commandingly.

"But I'm not..."

"Shut up! I know that you don't understand... and I also know that you're supposed to figure out this information out on your own, but the fact is that based on what you have just told me... there's no time for you to wait around! Now get up off your ass before your light is extinguished!" Roxas yelled, interrupting Kai's best efforts to disagree.

Kai folded his arms over his chest and tried to look nonchalant. "Who are you anyways to tell me what to do? And how do you know any of that is even true? What makes you so sure that I'm not the fake?"

Roxas looked thoughtful a moment then without warning swung a keyblade down in a deadly arc. Reflexivley Kai's arm came up and the clash of metal on metal could be heard ringing through the house.

Kai stared in amazement at the dark blade that had magically appeared in his hand moments before the blonde had finished his attack, effectively blocking him.

"Well... for one thing, if you're not Riku then you wouldn't have been able to pull that blade out of thin air like that. But then again, your double can do that... so what other proof do I have... let me think."

The blade in Kai's hand vanished as quick as it had arrived and Roxas also recalled his own weapons.

The blonde pulled the silver-haired man to his feet by the collar of his shirt, and much to the elder's surprized firmly pressed his lips against the other's.

----

_"So... I know you?" Came a soft reply._

_"Yeah... mmmrph!" Riku grunted in surprise as the boy spun him around and kissed him gently on the lips._

_'What the...!' Riku thought in confusion, gently pushing the boy away. "Wait... Sora... I don't understand." He said gently, prodding the boy for an answer to his strange behavior._

_"You said I know you right? Well... I really like you Riku... and I thought it would be weird for me to feel so much for you when I barely know you at all. But if what you say is true... then I must've liked you before and the feelings crossed over when I lost my memories. I may not know you in my mind... but I know you in my heart." Sora said philosophically, astounding Riku. He leaned forward and kissed the older teen again._

_"You sure about this?" Riku whispered tenderly, running his hands through soft chocolate locks._

_"Yes." Sora replied and leaned forward again._

----

"S-sora." Kai croaked as Roxas released him, leaving him to collapse onto the floor. The blonde almost felt sorry for the man, almost. But he wasn't about to forget that they were still in a rush.

"Yes, Sora. But like the guy who told you he was Riku... I am not really Sora. I am... a shell... an immitation. I wish I could explain it better than that but I don't know much about it myself." Roxas sighed quietly.

Kai... no Riku... the memories from before had become more clear, and he finally understood that the silver haired boy in his memories was himself. He pushed his bangs away from his forehead. "But... why can I see ... my past... from an outsiders perspective?" He asked.

"Well, probably because while your memories have been hanging out in Sora's body they're probably getting mixed up with his memories too. I imagine it goes both ways, he can see more things from the way you saw them too." Roxas offered.

Riku nodded and sighed, "I still don't remember much... but... I'm not about to loose something that important to me a second time."

"That's the spirit." Roxas smiled.

Riku looked at Roxas curiously for a moment, "Why... are you trying to help me?"

Roxas blushed sheepishly, "Well... 'cause Naminé asked me too..." He said shifting uneasily on his feet.

Riku raised an eyebrow and offered a sly grin in response which only succeeded in making Roxas blush some more.

----

**Riku: Hey... wait a minute. Rox you can't love Naminé... you're a part of Sora remember?**

**Roxas: ...**

**Riku: That'd be wierd... one person in love with two different people. Make it easy on yourself and love me. XD**

**Roxas: Hmm... I think someone is a little full of themselves.**

**rozu: Riku, behave.**

**Riku: Hmph... you're not the boss of me. Square-enix is. :p**

**Sora: Oh yeah? Just for that crack your not getting any.**

**Riku: Hey! Wait just a minute that's not fair.**

**rozu: lol**

**-Riku chases after Sora -**


	11. Other

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, if I did then life would be beautiful

Key:

- _Dream State_ -, _Flashback,_ ' thoughts ', " Dialogue "

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- A change in writing style/time/place/whatever (will notate in () which one)

Author's Note: This is the sequel to An Alternate Ending

Rating: M - for language and graphic images in later chapters

Warning: This is still a Sora/Riku fic… yeah. XD. Deal with it.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Chapter 11: Other)

Sora opened the door to find Xukir standing there stairing at him meaningfully. "Uh... can I ... help you?"

"Sora... I'm so sorry..." Xukir began hanging his head.

Sora headtilted, "Sorry? What for?"

"I've been lying to you from the beginning. But before you get angry, you have to undersand why... I didn't tell you the truth. You see... I didn't want to burden you with reality... you already seemed to be having such a hard time..." Xukir said softly.

"All... alright... so, what is it?" Sora asked with concern.

"It's me Sora. It's Riku." Xukir said raising his head and offering Sora a piercing stare with his dark emerald eyes.

"What?" Sora managed staring at Xukir in shock.

"I know this sounds rediculous... I mean after all, how can I be Riku when you're so sure that he's dead. But Sora, you have to believe me. It's me... and I've missed you so much." Xukir said desperately, closing the space between them and hugging Sora tightly.

Sora was stunned, frozen in place as he stared helplessly at the silver-haired man who was now hugging him. "R-ri... riku?" He stammered in disbelief, slowly raising his hand and experimentally running it through the older man's silver-black hair. "Is... is it really you Riku? What happened to you?" He asked softly, his curiousity getting the better of him.

"Remember... what I told you in the bar? The whole thing about the pieces of me getting stuck inside of you?" Xukir asked.

Sora looked thoughtful and nodded slightly. "Yeah... I remember..."

"Well..." Xukir trailed off, unsure of how to continue. Luckily for him however, Sora seemed to fit the pieces together himself.

"You're a heartless?" Sora asked in shock, stepping back a bit.

Xukir gave Sora a hurt glance, "No. Heartless are creatures that have hearts, they're just corrupted. You might remember that I'd long ago stopped letting the darkness corrupt my heart. But when my heart left me entirely, I became a 'nobody'. It's... really very strange to be a nobody. I have all of my memories, but only the bad ones. Sora, I came back to you so that I could become whole again. So that we could be together again." Xukir said passionately.

Sora was drawn in like a fish to a sparkling lure. He could have Riku back! It was like his birthday and Christmas all rolled into one. But somehow, even as immense joy spread throught him like fire, a small part of him sensed that something was terribly wrong.

Xukir held out his hand to Sora as an invitation for the brunette to accept the truth.

That scene... from his dreams so many years ago... where it had all began. With Riku holding his hand out... and Sora being unable to reach him. It was happening all over again, a part of Sora felt like he was drowing and he couldn't swim to save his life.

He watched his own hand reach out as though he was actually a spirit on the outside looking in. He wanted to shout at himself, "Wake up you fool! Can't you see that this is only an illusion?"

As soon as the hands touched, a switch turned off somewhere within Sora and his eyes became a dark and empty blue. "Riku..." He trilled happily, cluelessly.

"Now then... give me your heart!" Xukir whispered seductively into the boys ear.

----

Boom. Crash!

A storm brewed overhead as a silver-haired man ran as fast as he could go down the streets in between his apartment and the house of his best friend. Dark rain drops began to fall steadily around him and in no time at all he found himself splashing along.

"I hope I'm not too late..." He muttered to himself as he raced as though his life depended on it across the deserted asphault and in between the thatched cottages.

Somehow, this situation was eerily familiar to him, and though he wasn't sure where he might be remembering it from, he decided he was better left uninformed. He needed all of his will power devoted to the task at hand. Saving the light of his life.

He skidded to a halt at the edge of the block as he saw a dark shadow appear near where he was headed.

"Damn... get the hell away from there!" He shouted angrilly, charging for all he was worth at the same time as summoning his blade. The shadow glanced up, and Riku could have sworn that even from all the way down the street he could see the evil smile that was flashed his way.

"Heh he he... ha... ha hahaha. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!" Dark laughter boomed through the street and shook everything nearby.

"Ahhh!" Chimed a pair of feminine voices at the same time.

Riku's eyes noted the shadow pull forward a very familiar blonde, and a redhead, out from the house as it went.

"Naminé! Kairi! Hey you! Monster! Let them go right now!" Riku shouted as he neared.

Suddenly the shadow stepped out and into the light of a streetlamp, stoping Riku cold in his tracks.

"Sora?"

----

**Sora: Yay, I'm a bad guy again! Rawr. :3**

**Xukir: Dude... quit taking all the credit for my handiwork. D:**

**Riku: Hey rozu... I'm not going to die again am I? 'Cause you know... that would be**

**incredibly redundant.**

**rozu: No Riku... you're not going to die. Cross my heart. Geesh. Hmm... I'm seeing a battle coming up soon. After all, got to give my audience something worth the M rating on this fanfic.**

**Riku: XD Alright then! Ass-kicking time woo!**

**rozu: Guess who's going to be getting their ass kicked...**

**Riku: Hey!**

**rozu, Sora and Xukir all snicker**

**Roxas: Well it would be kind of hard to believe that you could actually fight Riku. Seeing as you don't remember anything.**

**Riku: Roxas... you're not helping.**


	12. Sirux

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, if I did then life would be beautiful

Key:

- _Dream State_ -, _Flashback,_ ' thoughts ', " Dialogue "

---- A change in writing style/time/place/whatever (might notate in () which one)

Author's Note: This is the sequel to An Alternate Ending

Rating: M - for language and graphic images in later chapters

Warning: This is still a Sora/Riku fic… yeah. XD. Deal with it.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Chapter 12: Sirux)

"Sora?"

----

The young man glanced over at Riku looking rather amused. Then it hit him. No... it wasn't Sora. For one thing, the man's long hair was a combination of brown, silver and black. His dark eyes were like an ocean of both blue and green. For another... he didn't sense Sora at all within... the abomination that stood under the streetlamp.

"You're not very bright are you?" The man replied, followed by another dark chuckle that shook reality once more and almost caused Riku to fall over.

Riku growled angrilly and charged at the offending figure, who set the two girls down and summoned two rather familiar blades into his hands, blocking Riku's attack without any trouble at all. Riku couldn't help but stare at the weapons that himself and Sora both used... both in the hands of this stranger. He almost had to check and make certain that he was still weilding the Road to Dawn himself.

The man took advantage of Riku's confusion and shoved hard against the blades causing Riku to skid backwards a few feet, but he managed to maintain enough balance to stay standing.

The man grinned. "I must say I'm amazed you even came after me... but you are too late. What I wanted to happen has occured. Though... admittedly not in the way I thought it would."

Riku frowned, "What the hell are you talking about?" He demanded.

"I have your heart Riku. Not only yours... but Sora's as well." The man grinned darkly, holding both swords to the side as tendrils of both light and shadows laced their way down his arms. "With this power... I will rule the world!" He exclaimed, his voice echoing over the islands and breaking a few of the nearby windows with the force. He brought both of his arms forward and blasted the gathered power at Riku.

Riku brought his arm up in an attempt to use his sword as a shield. Amazingly, something seemed to be holding back the strength of the blast and Riku's feet dug into the asphault as the light and darkness pushed against him.

Riku looked up in suprize to find his own dark aura blocking the brunt of the attack.

The realization of this angered his opponent who immediatly stopped the barrage of energy and leapt up, swords poised to take of Riku's head as he came crashing down.

Riku dodge-rolled out of the way and then attempted a strike of his own which became blocked by the keyblade. The soul eater came sweeping down across. Riku jumped, landing upon the dark blade and using it to propell him further, flipping neatly over the man's head and landing behind him.

His fancy footwork didn't manage to save him from a quick slice in the back caused by the other's swift recovery. Riku spun around to block the second blade from harming him further.

"I'm amazed that your reflexes are still so well-honed with no memory at all." The man silkily, slashing forward again.

"So am I..." Riku ammended, blocking both weapons with his one.

"You cannot hope to defeat me... and as soon as you are gone I will take the small part of what is left in your heart to complete this perfect being." He gloated, feinting a slash to Riku's head.

Riku jumped backwards and with all of his strength tried to call up whatever force had been protecting him earlier and forced it out in a blast of darkness.

Caught by surprized the man was blown backwards a few feet. "Heh! You learn on your feet." He praised.

"So what are you calling yourself now anyways." Riku asked angrilly, jumping up to strike.

"Sirux" He replied blocking the attack and adding in his feet kicking Riku in the chest and propelling the silver-haired man backwards into a house.

Riku groaned as his head hit the floor, trying to re-orient himself as fast as he could. "You just can't stick with a name can you? First you're Xukir, then you're Riku... now you're Sirux... dude you have some major identity issues." Riku teased jumping up the wall that he'd just landed on as Sirux lunged at him. He spun off and landed behind him, this time ready for the man's rather quick reflexes.

"_I_ have identity issues? I'll bet your still not even certain who _you_ are!" Sirux said snidely bringing both of his weapons over Riku's head. Metal met metal and Riku found himself on his knees trying to keep both of the weapons from slicing him to pieces.

"The difference is that it doesn't matter who I am... only that I can kick your butt!" Riku replied darkly, pushing up off his knees and forcing the other man back.

Sirux regained his balance and lunged forward again, the two of them blocking and attacking back and forth. It seemed for a while that they were evenly matched, even with Riku's lost memory and the fact that the gash in his back was stinging horribly.

The fact that Riku hadn't died after the first attack was probably attributed to a certain blonde who was still standing where Sirux had left her beside Kairi, and whom knew enough about Riku from surfing through Sora's memories years before, to help him in restoring the part of himself that knew how to fight.

But even Riku's amazing reflexes, and whatever Naminé could have possibly known about his fighting skills, weren't enough in the end to stop someone who had all of both Riku's and Sora's memories at his disposal.

Riku's weapon flew through the air after being knocked out of his hand. Sirux mercilessly slashed at the man who was now dodging for his life. Cold steel cut through Riku's chest and his shoulders leaving deep bleeding wounds. Sirux called up his powers again and blasted the defenseless man several feet away and into a rather unforgiving brick wall.

Riku slumped, coughing up blood as he landed unceremoniously on the asphault once more.

"Riku!" Shouted both girls in shock and horror. Naminé found herself wishing that she had the ability to summon her weapon like Riku and Sora could.

"Now I've got you right where I want you." Cackled Sirux as he neared, he drew up his blades and shoved them together, a bright light mixing with the darkest of shadows and forming a keyblade that took on the appearance of an angel's wing, in a swath of the purest black. He brought his weapon up for the final strike.

Riku raised his head, whatever part of his heart that had held hope before understanding now that he had failed miserably and pathetically.

Sirux made to swing down his weapon but found that his arm was being held back. He glanced to the side in astonishment to find a familiar spirit clutching onto his arm and restraining him for all it was worth.

Annoyed, Sirux tried to knock the boy off his arm but the brunette refused to release him. "You idiot... do you forget that you were the one who accepted my lies as the truth. How can you be so hypocritical as to stop me now?" He asked the spirit beside him.

Riku glanced up in surprise as he heard Sirux talking. The man's eyes were averted to his own arm, and it seemed... that it was what he was talking to. Suddenly the situation struck Riku as extremely humorous... "You can't do it can you? You can't destroy me!" He laughed as blood ran down his chin.

Sirux turned his attention, "What? Of course I can destroy you!" He said trying once more to move his arm but, still being unable to. "Damn it let go!" He ordered of the spirit.

Riku clutched his stomache as he laughed, "Does... does your arm talk to you often?"

Sirux blushed crimson, "A spirit is holding me back!" He defended.

Riku rolled on the ground, "Haha... you... can't... haha... even... haha... make a... hehe... good excuse! Ha ha ha!"

Sirux growled, his anger mounting. "I... I'll get you next time!" He bellowed angrilly, vanishing with a strange popping sound, leaving Riku to laugh in peace.

Kairi and Naminé rushed up to him, unsure of what could have been so funny. Together they helped him limp into the house where they dressed his wounds.

Riku finally stopped laughing and became as serious as he could before the two girls who looked eerily similar. "I... I failed. But Sora... somehow I think he saved me." He managed.

Naminé managed a smile. "You haven't failed yet... but at least you know who you are now."

Riku gave her a well-earned glare. "And WHY couldn't you have told me?"

"Um... because..." Suddenly all the excuses Naminé had used before ran dry.

Kairi was the one who stepped forward, tears in her eyes. "Riku... I..." She kneeled and hugged him tightly. Riku stared at her in mute astonishment, slowly patting her back, and ignoring the pain both from his chest and his back. "Kairi?"

"We really thought you were dead... it ... it would have hurt too much back then to know... to know you were alive. But... I'm so glad your here!" She said sobbing heavily.

Riku's expression softened into a smile, "So am I Kairi... so am I."

----

**Awww... Riku and Kairi have a moment. –prods-**

**Kairi: Riku smiled at me! –swoon-**

**Riku: -coughs-**

**Naminé: -stares- Um... am I really ... related to her?**

**Roxas: No wonder he is so full of himself...**

**Sora: -rolls around laughing-**

**rozu: As a random note... this story is officially longer than it's predecessor An Alternate Ending.**

**Riku: How so?**

**rozu: Well, this is chapter 12... and it's not an ending.**

**Roxas: Wow. She's right. 12 chapters... has it really been that long?**

**Sirux: Chapter 9 doesn't count 'cause it's too short.**

**rozu: -glares-**

**-Sirux runs for his life as rozu shoots erasers of doom at him, and everyone else laughs at the idea of ... erasers of doom.-**


	13. Somebody’s Nobody

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, if I did then life would be beautiful

Key:

- _Dream State_ -, _Flashback,_ ' thoughts ', " Dialogue "

---- A change in writing style/time/place/whatever (may notate in () which one)

Author's Note: This is the sequel to An Alternate Ending

Rating: M - for language and graphic images in later chapters

Warning: This is still a Sora/Riku fic… yeah. XD. Deal with it.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Chapter 13: Somebody's Nobody)

Naminé paced back and forth across the carpeted floor, her forehead creased as she tried to work out something that made sense in her head.

Riku stood outside on the dark porch. A gentle island breeze causing his long hair to blow around his face. His mind was as busy as Naminé's, although the two of them were not thinking about the same thing.

The blonde had taken into account the situation that had just occured and found herself confused as to how a man like Xukir... who was in effect Riku's nobody, had managed to fuse himself with someone other than... his other. Specifically Sora.

"Maybe... it was because Riku's heart is inside of Sora? So... it became possible?" Naminé said out loud to herself while Kairi watched.

"Well wait... does that mean that you could have fused with him back when my heart was inside of him?" Kairi asked curiously.

Naminé glanced at the redhead thoughtfully and shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe. But... even if that was the case... then my next question would be... how to fix this problem."

"Well, why don't you have his real nobody try and fuse with him?" Kairi suggested.

"What?" Naminé asked in surprize, pausing for a moment in her walk.

"Well, you explained before... that Sora has a nobody too. You said his name was Roxas. So... why don't you go find him... and tell him what's going on. And have him fuse with Sora. Maybe he can beat Xukir out of Sora." Kairi explained.

Naminé looked stunned. "Kairi... that's brilliant!" She said approvingly.

Kairi beamed proudly.

The blonde grabbed a coat and headed out the door.

"Hey... wait! Where are you going?" Kairi asked in confusion.

"To go find Roxas." Naminé replied with a wink, disappearing out the front door.

As she walked she passed by Riku on the porch who glanced at her as she made her way down the steps.

"Where are you going?" He asked.

"To go and find Sora's nobody." She replied with a smile.

He vaulted over the railing of the porch and landed beside her. "I'm going with you... who knows when that maniac will come back." He said calmly.

Naminé raised an eyebrow. "Sora's a maniac now?" She asked casually.

"That ... thing... isn't Sora." Riku responded as he fell into step beside her.

The blonde gave a heavy sigh. "Riku... whether you like it or not. That thing _is_ Sora. Or at least... it is partly. Your nobody somehow... fused with him. Clearly, his spirit was far more powerful and overcame Sora's with no trouble at all, forcing him into a small corner of his own body. But regardless of that, he's still in there somewhere... lacking the strength to fight because a part of him believes that Xukir is you."

Riku frowned, self-loathing clear upon his features. "I should have never agreed to leave Sora alone. If I had known who I was, I would have known Xukir was lying... and I wouldn't have let him..." Riku broke off, pausing in mid-step as tears started to cloud his vision.

"Riku you are not helping anyone by thinking about the "what ifs". You have to realize that even if you had known who you were you would have still been in no shape to help Sora right now. Riku... don't you see... even though you might know your name, you still don't have most of your memories. You don't recall Sora at all in your mind... and the parts of your memories that have nothing to do with him are few and far between. Worse still, Xukir now has most of your memories, and all of Sora's, in his grasp." Naminé said as she tried desperately to explain the situation at hand to Riku.

"You're wrong Naminé. Riku may not recall the time he spent with Sora in his thoughts... but his heart never forgot." Said a male voice from nearby.

Naminé and Riku both looked up in surprize to see a familiar blonde young man standing on the balcony just above them.

"Roxas?" Riku asked curiously, wondering why the young man had followed him all the way here.

The blonde leapt nimbly from the balcony and landed on the porch beside them, staring at them both seriously with his bright blue eyes.

Those eyes that were so similar... yet so different from Sora's.

"Roxas... what do you mean?" Naminé asked him, wondering how the two men knew each other.

The young man looked at her. "I went to him a few days a go to knock some sense into his memory-less head. I may look nothing like Sora... but I was enough like him for the purposes of my experiment. Trust me... there's no question that his feelings have not changed." He finished, flushing softly.

"I see..." Naminé trailed glancing over at Riku who seemed to understand exactly what Roxas had just said and was surprizingly blushing softly as well. Then she understood and nodded sagely. "So... then... can I assume you have a plan Roxas?" She asked hopefully.

Roxas sighed, "Based on what has happened, and what I've overheard you all talking about... yes... I have a plan. But unfortunately it only favors Sora's and Riku's future together."

Naminé looked puzzled, "What do you mean?"

"Well... I think I'll answer your question with another question. Are you certain that you can live on peacefully without me? And Kairi without Sora?" Roxas asked looking serious, yet incredibly saddened.

Naminé, despite being blonde, was a very sharp young woman and understood the look on Roxas' face all too well. She blushed and looked down to her feet, suddenly finding she didn't have the strength to give him an answer.

"Yes." Came a seperate female voice.

Roxas, Naminé, and Riku all glanced to the door where Kairi was standing looking at them all with a tired smile.

"Yes Roxas, I am certain. Sure... it would have been a dream come true to have Sora by my side a few years ago... but now, I know better. You can't really wish for something that was never yours to begin with." She said philosophically, joining the group out on the porch and sending Naminé a meaningful glance.

Roxas turned his attention back to Naminé to see what her response would be and found that he was only slightly disheartened by her answer.

"Yeah... that goes for me too Roxas. Sora's happiness is tied to Riku now... I can't ask for anything more than that. After all, he forgave me once... and rescued me from my own darkness." Naminé gave her trademark smile, looking for just a moment like the girl who had once been trapped in Castle Oblivion all those years ago.

Roxas nodded, "Alright then... here's the plan..."

--------

**rozu: I am so mean.**

**Roxas: Hey! You can't just cut it off like that!**

**rozu: Sure I can. I'm the author, I can do whatever I want.**

**-rozu makes Axel appear out of nowhere. He promtly chases Roxas down and drags him into a nearby closet. –**

**Naminé & Kairi: O.o**


	14. The Kingdom of Hearts

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, if I did then life would be beautiful

Key:

- _Dream State_ -, _Flashback,_ ' thoughts ', " Dialogue "

---- A change in writing style/time/place/whatever (may notate in () which one)

Author's Note: This is the sequel to An Alternate Ending

Rating: M - for language and graphic images in later chapters

Warning: This is still a Sora/Riku fic… yeah. XD. Deal with it.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Chapter 14: The Kingdom of Hearts)

A dark man floated through space. A blanket of potential marred by the annoying shine of life.

Worlds. So many of them... so many lives all shining and marring the beautiful darkness.

The stars winked out one by one upon the blanket. Each world becoming swallowed by darkness as he willed it so. The heart of each world imploded on his very whim and then ceased to exist.

Oblivion. The perfection of chaos... the sweet silence of the absence of life.

No one would ever outshine him, for he was the new lord of this universe and he would decide what to surround himself with.

Suddenly he found himself being forced to pause, a being of light appearing before him, dual swords in hand.

"That's enough Sirux! I'm here to put an end to your reign once and for all!" A man with platinum blonde hair shouted in a righteous tone of voice. His eyes reflecting like an aquamarine pool of water.

"Who the hell are you?" Sirux demanded, his darker but similarly colored eyes narrowing as he stared at this new challenger to his throne.

"I am Riku." Said the man, shifting colors to silver and green. "And I am also Sora..." He said shifting colors yet again to blonde and blue.

"Idiot. I am Sora." Sirux laughed, gesturing to his chocolate, silver, and black hair.

"No. You are Xukir... you are not Sora." Returned the man, shifting back to platinum blonde and aquamarine.

"Well, frankly I couldn't give a shit who you think I am. Anyone who challenges me is to be put in their place." Sirux said, opening his arms wide.

Space shifted around them according to Sirux's mind, a giant cylindrical floor appearing beneath their feet glowing an ominous violet.

The Keyblade and Soul Eater appeared his hands and he dropped his arms into a fighting stance, waiting to see what his opponent would do.

Riku closed his eyes quietly, a soft light aura shifting down his body and causing an slightly different keyblade, Roxas' weapon, and his own variation of the Soul Eater which he had long ago named the Road to Dawn. Then he too assumed a fighting stance, his eyes narrowed in anticipation.

"Let's see what you've got then!" Sirux cried out as he charged at Riku.

Immediately the young man parried the attack and the battle begun.

Swords flew left and right as the two of them clashed over the top of the cylinder which was steadily moving either left or right beneath their feet as they fought to either one side of the other.

At first, Riku didn't notice the slight change in the way his feet found the surface that he was fighting upon. But when Sirux began to try to corner him on one side of the cylinder and it began to sink noticeably, he pushed himself to force the other back, realizing the magic of their playing field.

Sirux, however, would not allow for Riku to push him back, drawing into his magical energy and forcing an extra blast of magic as Riku attempted to rescue himself.

The young man tottered on his feet, then involuntarily found himself tumbling through the vast darkness of space.

Sirux' laughter echoed throughout the universe. "Hah! I am all powerful!" He jeered at the few leftover twinkling lights.

"I wouldn't be to sure of that." Muttered an annoyed blonde as he returned to the cylinder, two pure white angel's wings having appeared on his back to save him in the nick of time.

SLASH

Sirux stood in amazement as the front of his shirt burst open and blood began to poor out of a wound that had been made by the Road to Dawn.

The tri-color haired man was sincerely stunned to see Riku fluttering there before him like an angel sent directly from heaven to show him his place in hell.

"WHY YOU LITTLE...!" He shrieked jumping off the rapidly turning platform himself, two gigantic bat wings appearing upon his back in response as he made straight for Riku, two blades flashing dangerously with collecting power.

Riku simply smiled and dodged cleanly out of the way, swiping his swords across the wings of the man passing by.

Sirux' anguished cries echoed through the small arena. Riku let loose with a series of powerful attacks, each successful hit seeming to increase his power and decrease Sirux'.

Riku understood as he hacked his way through his enemy that the reason he was getting stronger now was that each time the Road to Dawn hit the man, he could remember something from his past and soon after realized that his dark keyblade was unlocking Sora's heart.

Riku switched his mode of attack, and swiped a perfectly aimed kick at Sirux, knocking both weapons cleanly out of his hands.

"Release Sora now!" Riku demanded, pointing both of his own weapons at the weaponless young man.

"You will never rescue Sora from me you fool! Don't you get it? It's too late." Sirux laughed even as Riku held him at sword point.

"It's never too late." Riku replied... however it sounded more like Roxas' voice. The blonde dropped his own two weapons and flew forward, colliding into Sirux.

It looked as though Riku was simply trying to tackle Sirux in the air to the untrained eye... but in slow motion it could be seen that in fact it was Roxas' spirit that had been housing within Riku up till now, was crashing through Sora's body and into Xukir's spirit, causing it to fall out of Sora's body. Riku on the other hand was wrapping the brunette in a tight hug to keep him from falling into oblivion once the nobody and him were separated at last.

Roxas, devoid of the angelic wings, drew out his keyblade again and positioned it beneath Xukir's back.

"Idiot..." Xukir croaked. "If... you... do that... we'll both die."

"If that means that I don't have to worry about you anymore I'll take my chances." Roxas said with a sad smile, thrusting the keyblade into both of them. Their bodies instantly burst into flames and like a shooting star they fizzled out into the darkness.

-----

Riku didn't open his eyes, concentrating only on keeping Sora tightly in his grip as Roxas had told him to do.

"Ri-ku... I... can't... breathe." Came a soft voice from within his arms. Riku blinked in astonishment and carefully released his hold slightly, sighing in relief as his emerald eyes stared into electric blue.

"You're alright!" Riku said softly, his happy tone unmistakable.

Sora stared at him for a moment, "Is this real?" He asked cautiously.

Riku chuckled, "Yes Sora, this is definitely real."

The brilliant smile that followed soothed Riku's heart and the silver-haired young man hazarded a glance around him. "Well... I suppose we should go home now..."

As he said this, Sora glanced around to see where they were, and even though the battle arena had vanished there was still quite a bit to notice.

"They're gone!" He exclaimed as he observed the stars... or the lack thereof.

Riku looked apologetic, but Sora didn't seem to notice. "Honestly... how many times do I have to bring those darn things back into existence before they stay?" He asked in annoyance, his tone and words taking Riku completely by surprise.

Sora shifted in Riku's arms and drew out his keyblade. The pure golden blade glowed like a beacon and exploded, its shimmering light becoming those worlds that had disappeared only moments before.

Riku stared in amazement. "How did you know you could do that?" He questioned.

Sora just shrugged and grinned. "Somehow... I just knew that that's where Xukir had hid them."

"You never cease to amaze me..." Riku said softly, causing Sora to look up in surprise.

"Naminé?" Sora asked in disbelief as he stared into Riku's emerald eyes.

Riku blushed faintly and smiled. "I'll explain when we get back home."

-----

Sora sat next to Riku on the couch and simply stared at the ladies before him.

Just moments before they had been two pure white angels wings that had been supporting Riku during the battle of the century.

"Well, I messed around a little and most of Kairi's and my memories into Riku so that we could fuse with him." Naminé explained sheepishly.

"It was harder for Kairi because she's not actually a nobody... but I solved that by making myself the real one while I was already fused with Riku so that she became the nobody and could fuse with him too. It was really quite complicated." The blonde shrugged.

"It's really very strange to have two girl spirits inside of you." Riku said, running a hand through his silver hair.

"So what now?" Sora asked curiously.

"Well... it's time for me to say goodbye." Naminé said with a sad smile.

"Goodbye?" Sora exclaimed unhappily. "Where are you going?"

"Kairi shouldn't be split into two people like this... besides... I've got no reason to be myself anymore." Naminé explained with a fake grin.

"No Naminé! You can't go!" Sora said, glomping onto her and crying heavily.

"Sora... relax... if you ever want to talk to me just track down Kairi ok?" Naminé said with a true smile as she patted his back.

Sora sniffled and pulled away. "O...k..." He grumbled, dropping back down onto the couch, and without looking accidentally fell right into Riku's lap.

"OW!" Riku exclaimed as Sora's full weight nearly crushed him. Sora blinked and turned around, blushing as he found himself face to face with the silver-haired man.

"Riku..." Sora cried and turned around as best he could, hugging the older man who didn't bother struggling and conveniently forgot the pain of Sora dropping himself on top of him.

Naminé and Kairi smiled then nodded to each other. Seconds later, only one of them remained. The redhead quietly made her exit as the two young men who'd been separated for so long rediscovered one another.

------

(Epilogue)

Over the course of many long days filled with explanations and evenings with love making, Riku's memories all returned to him. The two of them took their time catching up on the five years that had been skipped while Sora had been wishing himself dead and Riku had been technically extinct himself.

Sora explained in seductive detail about how there simply would never be anyone who could replace Riku in his life. In return Riku showed Sora in something even better than words just how much the same was true for himself.

A year later, when they mutually agreed that nothing would ever come between them again, they invited all of their friends from their past travels to their wedding.

-----

A young woman with long red hair and bright blue eyes sat in a fairly comfy, white, foldable chair amongst a rather large crowd of people and an assortment of odd creatures that hailed from all over the universe. His highness and the queen sat in the front row seats, accompanied by the Royal Adviser, his girlfriend the princess and the Captain of the Guard. Of course to Kairi, they would always be, Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy and Goofy. Spread out everywhere else was Alice, Belle and the Beast, Aladin and Jasmine, Ariel (in human form and wearing a particularly stunning emerald dress) and Eric, Tarzan and Jane, Aurora and Prince Charming, Snow White and Prince Charming (no relation), Cinderella and her Prince, Hercules and Phil, and many others including many of the people from Traverse Town.

At the reception she remained at the back, content enough to watch everyone as they talked to one another and reunited with Sora and Riku. In some cases meeting Riku for the very first time.

The redhead sipped quietly on her iced tea, finding herself strangely uninterested in being noticed at all.

"A beautiful woman shouldn't be sitting by herself at a party like this." Muttered a kind male voice from nearby.

Kairi looked up in surprise as she was being addressed. Her eyes swept over a blonde young man with gentle brown eyes who was holding out his hand to her.

"I know it seems silly... but may I have this dance?" He asked quietly, his eyes burning into her soul.

'Who... is this guy? I feel like I know him.' She thought as she took his hand and got to her feet, for the first time aware that there was music being played in the background.

The two of them fell into step on the dance floor, the DJ playing a soft and gentle melody. Her blue eyes looked into his as they waltzed across the floor. All the while the blazing sensation of deja vu would not leave her.

At the end of the dance he bowed respectfully and then stood to smile, their closeness suddenly causing her to blush.

"I've missed you Naminé..." He whispered delicately into her ears.

Her eyes widened and she froze in his arms. "R-roxas?" She whispered back.

"Nah... not anymore. I'm my own person now. Long story involving weird radiation effects. In any case... I haven't thought of a new name for myself yet." He whispered back.

"Why can't you just be Roxas?" She replied curiously, forgetting for the moment the compromising position she was in.

"Because I look nothing like him... and it would just confuse Riku and Sora." He replied gently.

"Rox then?" She asked.

He looked thoughtful and smiled, "Alright... Rox." He said agreeably, releasing her at last.

"Does this mean Xukir is out there too?" Kairi questioned.

"No. He's gone for good. Burned up on re-entry." He replied smiling.

"Good." She smiled.

Later when the newlyweds were saying goodbye, they found themselves asking everyone whether they had seen Kairi at all that afternoon.

Eventually the story came back that she'd been seen leaving the reception with a handsome young blonde who by the looks of it had swept her off her feet.

THE END.

-----

**And almost everyone lives happily ever after. Yay. Thank you for reading and reviewing. I love you guys. -hands out brownies-**

**Axel: Hey! What about me? I'm not happy at all! My love just got taken away by Kairi! ;.;**

**-rozu makes Roxas (the one with blue eyes) appear out of nowhere. He promptly drags a grinning Axel back into the closet. "As if that would actually ever happen..." –**


End file.
